The First Time
by Nic Oakes
Summary: The first time Stephanie 'Stevie' Quem meets the marauders. First set of the series of 'Off-Shots' from the 'Valica' series.
1. Chapter 1

_The first time I met James Potter, my heart stopped._  
_The first time I met Remus Lupin, I couldn't breath._  
_The first time I met Sirius Black, my legs turned to jelly._


	2. James Charlus Potter

_The first time I met James Potter, my heart stopped._  
No, not because I was in love with him, or because he was _so_ absolutely gorgeous.  
No. My heart stopped because I was pretty sure he was going to kill me.

My first day at King's Cross had been eventful enough. Lily's muggle contraption that was supposed to wake us up at eight forty-five had failed us, causing us to wake up thirty five minutes late, and forty minutes was hardly enough time for me to get dressed and tame my annoyingly long hair, especially when I was sharing a bathroom with Lily Evans. Then, when I had went down the street to Severus's house, where I was supposed to ride with them to King's Cross, I had come to find that Severus's father had spent the whole night drinking and taking out his anger on Severus's mum, which meant she couldn't drive us to the station. So Severus, Lily, her annoying sister Petunia who treated me as if I was the plague, and me all had to ride in the back of the monstrocities which muggles used for transportation. And since I was the smallest, I was forced to ride on the inside, with my legs draped over Severus, and me practically leaning on Lily. We were late, of course, to the station, and only had eight minutes left to board the train and be off. Lily's parents and sister had left us at the barrier, and I was left with Lily and Severus, which would have been fine, except for the fact that due to my small size and their hurry to board the train, it went unnoticed when suddenly I wasn't by their side anymore. Some tall pale haired girl had cut in front of me, and I had been forced to stop to avoid running into her. By the time she was out of my way, Lily and Severus had disappeared in the crowd of students all running late and trying to board the train.  
Obviously, I wasn't lost, it was kind of hard to miss the big freaking red train in front of my eyes, but _still_, there is something disconcerting about being in an unfamiliar country, in an unfamiliar train station, at an unfamiliar platform, with what seemed to be hundreds of unfamilar faces around you. So I had stopped and hesitated, wondering if maybe it would just be better to wait and let all the people around me go ahead and scramble for the train, and then go once the crowds had died down. Or maybe Severus and Lily had noticed my absence and come to look for me... I would have felt foolish if I had been aboard the train while they searched the platform for me. What if they missed the train for that reason?  
Deep in thought, trying to make a decision, I wasn't exactly paying attention to my surroundings. And then all of the sudden, people were yelling '_Lookout!'_. Surprisingly, when you're in imminent danger of dying, time really does seem to slow down. The cart had to be moving fast, and was pick up more and more speed, but looking at it, I was able to recognize that there were three trunks of luggage, two owl cages, three cauldrons, not to mention a lanky, petrified looking raven haired boy, all about to crush me.  
Then it dawned on me that I was in the way, and that I was totally screwed, because my legs were frozen, and all I could do was stand there admiring how pretty one of the birds were, and that the boy flying towards me was about my age.  
And then suddenly, something from the opposite direction hit me _hard_, and I was sent flying to the side, and being crushed by something.


	3. Remus John Lupin

_The first time I laid eyes on Remus Lupin I couldn't breathe_.

As soon as I hit the ground, all of the air was knocked out of me. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to breathe.  
"Oh crap! Are you alright? Did you hit your head?"

I opened my eyes to see my rescuer. The boy seemed around my age as well, which meant he was twelve or thirteen. He had wavy brown hair that seemed to be in need of a trim, given that it was brushing my forehead... or maybe he was just _really_ close to my face. I searched his face for flaws; his nose was slightly bulky, and his skin held a slight ashen hue. But his eyes were pretty; with different shades of green and gold and brown twisted in them... hazel didn't seem to do them justice.  
I was trying to breathe, but he was on top of me and squishing my diaphram. I really couldn't breathe.  
"Could you do me a favor?" I gasped out.  
"Of course," He said eagerly, his pretty eyes full of concern. "What do you need?"  
"For you to get off of me." I admitted in a raspy voice.  
His eyes widened drastically and his palor skin suddenly turned a bright red. "Oh yeah, sure, of course." He pushed himself up off of the ground and offered me his hand. I reached up and grasped it.  
"I'm Remus." He said, not letting go of my hand so he could shake it. He seemed a tad bit awkward, and his face was still red.  
I took a few deep breathes before smiling at him, "Stevie."  
"Sorry I crushed you." He blurted quickly.  
I couldn't help but let the smile turn into a grin. "It's okay. I would take being crushed by you over being crushed by an idiot on a luggage rack, any day?"  
He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck, and I chuckled at his bashfulness.  
"Yeah, James is definitely not the smartest guy in our year... I told him not to try and ride the luggage cart, but I think he was ignoring me."  
"Ah, he's a friend of yours?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.  
Remus blushed again and rubbed the back of his neck, "Unfortunately... yes."

"OH MAN, REMUS THAT WAS SO AWESOME! YOU'VE GOT TO TRY THAT!" Someone yelled, and we were joined by my attacker.  
At a closer look, I was able to inspect the trouble-maker more. His black hair was incredibly messy, though it may have just been wind-blown from traveling down the platform at like a _hundred_ freaking miles an hour.  
"Who's your friend, Remus?" James asked.  
Remus opened his mouth but I cut him off, "No need to introduce me, I can speak for myself." I turned to the messy haired boy with the hazel eyes and crossed my arms. "I'm Stevie Quem, and you have killed me!"

James seemed shocked by my outburst and he stared dumbly at me for a few moments. "Isn't Stevie a boy's name?"  
Remus actually hung his head and shook it. James smiled at me, obviously picking and I could instantly tell that this was the kind of person who was used to getting away with everything because he was rich, spoiled, and had a charming personality. How did I know? Because I was that kind of person too... which meant I was immune to his charms.  
I probably shouldn't have done what I did, but I was frustrated, and kind of insulted. So I kicked him in the shin. He yelped and stumbled slightly.  
"It's short for Stephanie, you jerk. And when you almost _kill_ someone, it's proper ettiquite to _apoligize_!" I huffed, before turning back to Remus, "Thanks for not letting me die. It was nice to meet you." And then I turned away from the two of them and marched purposely to the train, stopping only to grab my trunk and drag it along behind me. _Where the hell was Severus?_

Once I got to the actual train, I seen the issue in my boarding. There was a small step up onto the train and while it was an easy step up for me, it wouldn't be easy for me to lift my trunk... I wasn't much for physical labor.  
"Need a hand?" I turned to see an older boy... probably fourteen or fifteen, with short cropped brown hair and a stocky build.  
"Yes please." I admitted, smiling as he easily lifted my trunk onto the train and even offered me a hand up.  
"Are you a first year?"  
"Not... technically. I just transferred here, and I'm going into my second."  
"Oh, that's pretty cool. I didn't know Hogwarts allowed students to transfer." He nodded slightly, though I think it was more of a 'that's cool' nod than a 'yes' nod. "Well good luck here at Hogwarts!" I thanked him again and he set on his own way while I stood there, looking left and right, wondering where to find Severus and Lily. Shrugging to myself and sighing, I set off in the 'left' direction.  
I should have went right.


	4. The first 'I love you'

**AU** Totally out of order. But that's how I'm planning on writing these... completely randomly, when the moment hits.

* * *

"Stevie!" Remus yelled loudly into the room lined with shelves and shelves of lost and forgotten things. "_Please_ talk to me."

There was no response, and he sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his shabby robes. "Stevie, I know that your confused... I just want to talk to you."

Once again, nothing but silence. Remus sighed again and decided to look around the 'Room of Hidden Things' as Stevie had dubbed it a week earlier. It was her sanctuary, and definitely her favorite manifestation of the Room of Requirements.

_'Everything in here is sort of like me, you know?' She said, turning to give Remus a small smile_. _It was absent of any mischief or flirtation, which was extremely rare for Stephanie Quem. The smile itself was shy and timid; which were two adjectives never used to describe the young girl before him... not if you wanted your body parts to remain intact. _  
_ But something about the smile was familiar; it held secrets. And that was something Stevie Quem was extremely good at; having and keeping secrets. And this smile almost said that she was going to share one of them with him. A thought that had Remus's toes tingling and stomach doing flip flops. And although these feelings were common for Remus, especially when he was around this dark haired Gryffindor girl, he never did get used to them._  
_ 'You're staring at me, Remus.' She pointed out, a hint of amusement coating her words._  
_He felt his cheeks warm as a blush took over his face. Darn his easily tinted cheeks. _

_'Was I?' He asked, clearing his throat and he watched as her smile widened a fraction. 'My apoligies.'_

_She rolled her eyes at him, which made him grin. 'Any way, you were saying before?'_

_'I was commenting on the similarity of me and the contents of this room.' She repeated, turning away from him. This was probably a good option, considering Remus wouldn't be able to focus on his words with that smile planted on her face. 'My parents always thought that the best way to keep me safe was to hide me away from the world... to keep me and my lineage hidden from everyone. It was as if they believed the world around me would somehow taint me and my bloodline.' She had turned the corner and ventured into the next line of shelves lined with forgotten things. Remus didn't follow. He had stopped moving in order to hear her better given her voice had quieted. 'That's why we keep our secrets, you know? In order to keep them safe... That's why all of these items are here too; they were put here so that they would be safe from the prying eyes of others. So that their owner would be able to keep them hidden away from anyone that they didn't deem worthy of knowing about them.'_

_She went quiet after that, but Remus didn't comment. He pondered over her words carefully, trying to decipher them in order to understand a bit better._

_'You've pointed out a similarity,' He called out finally. He spoke loudly, given he didn't know where she was currently located in the room. He picked up a book off of one of those shelves and touched it, giving his hands something to do. 'But you missed out on a key difference.'_

_'And what's that?' _

_Remus jumped and spun around, shocked to see that the Gryffindor student had managed to work her way behind without his noticing. She was leaning casually on what looked to be some kind of old cabinet, and although her mouth slightly twitched at his started reaction, she remained still._

_He cleared his throat and fought the urge to rub the back of his neck. 'You are not an item put on a shelf, Stevie.'_

_Her eyes brightened slightly at his words and she opened her mouth to say something but he wasn't done._

_'Yes, your parents may have attempted to hide you back in Russia; home-schooling you, not allowing you to make friends outside of your own family... but you convinced them to allow you to come here to Hogwarts.'_

_'Yes, but-'_

_He didn't allow her to finish her sentence, 'Your parents aren't here, Stephanie. You don't have them as an excuse anymore as to why you keep so many secrets about your past.'_

_Her eyes darkened at this last sentence. 'My secrets are my business, Remus.'_

_'Yes they are.' He affirmed. 'They are _your_ secrets, as in it is _your_ decision to keep them. But that makes you different from the things in this room, doesn't it? They were _put_ here by someone else_, _and _you _made the decision to remain hidden.'_

_He silenty berated himself after he had finished talking. She looked at him; anger simmering behind her eyes, and he wanted nothing more than for her to stop looking at him like that. He hated when she was cross with him. But sometimes he just couldn't stop his own tongue from telling her how he really felt. Something that scared him given most of his feelings for her were not something he wanted her to know._

_'You're staring at me again.' She pointed out._

_'You're staring at me too_._' He snapped, feeling slightly defensive._

_He saw that familiar smirk creep back on her face. 'I'm not staring, Remus, I'm _glaring_.'_

_'My mistake. But I don't understand _why_ you're glaring at me. I was just stating the truth.'_

_She stared (or glared?) at him for a few more moments before sighing, and letting both her chin and shoulders slump down in defeat. 'Maybe that's it then... maybe I'm not used to people actually being honest with me.'_

_'I'm sorry.' He said silently, taking a few steps towards her. _

_This gained her attentin, and she turned her head up to look at him. She had her head turned up slightly so that she could look him in the eye. 'Why on Earth are you apoligizing for?'_

_'I shouldn't have-'_

_'Shouldn't have what?' It was her turn to interupt him. 'Shouldn't have spoken your mind? Shouldn't have been honest with me?'_

_It took him a few moments for him to realize that she wanted an answer. 'Um, both, I guess?' He said uncertainly._

_She rolled her eyes. 'Remus. You are both the densest, yet brilliant boy I have ever laid eyes on.'_

_'Thank you?'_

_She smiled at him, once again making his stomach twist. 'You're _so_ intelligent, Remus. You have a _brilliant_ mind, and you should never hesitate from sharing it with me, do you understand?'_

_He opened his mouth to respond but practically choked on his words as she filled the distance between them; only stopping when her forehead was almost brushing his chin. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, which was something else Stevie Quem never did, before reaching her hand up to cup his face._  
_ He had to crane his neck a little to get a look at her face, and the touch of her cold hands on his (now extremely) warm cheeks was causing volts of electricity to run through him. 'And don't you _ever_ even think about lying to me, Remus Lupin.'_

_Somehow, through the haze that her touch caused, he managed to form a sentence. 'But I haven't been honest with you about everything. I-'_

_'Don't have to say anything.' She said, effectively cutting him off, not with her words but with her lips. _

_He tried to remember what he was going to tell her, about him being a werewolf, about the full moon being only a few days away, about the dangers and the reasons that she shouldn't be with him. _  
_ But he couldn't. Because somehow, someway this short, raven haired, fiery, beautiful girl that he had managed to fall hard for in the last two years, seemed to have fallen for him too. And he was either too weak or too selfish to fight it._

_He hesitantly put his hands on her sides, at the bottom of her ribe cage, and turned his head so that he could press his lips to hers more firmly. If she seemed shocked by his display of eagerness, she didn't show it, instead responding by moving her hands that had been cupping his face, down and around the base of his neck, tanglings her fingers in his hair._

_He don't know how long they stood there, locked in this embrace... long enough for them to deepen it to the point that she was light headed from lack of oxygen, and he was so far fallen for her he knew there was no way he would ever be able to fight his feelings for her, regardless of his 'furry little problem'._

That was seven days ago. It might not seem like that long to others, but it had been long enough. This short span on a week had consisted of enough awkwardness and pain to last him a lifetime.  
It had started with him avoiding her for the next three days after that incident. His avoidance was due to two reasons; his decreasing health due to the full moon being so close, and also because he had decided that if he couldn't fight his feelings for her to keep her safe, he would simply avoid them. And avoiding his feelings meant avoiding her.

_'Alright, I don't know what happened with you and Stevie, and I don't think I want to know because I just finished breakfast... but seriously, you have got to talk to her, Remus.' James insisted, 'Not only is she taking out her frustration on me and Sirius, but now she's talked Lily into taking it out on me too! She's corrupting my woman!'_

_'I can't well face her now, can I? I've got thirty minutes until I have to head down to the shrieking shack with Madam Pomfrey. Tell Sirius to go poke Stevie with a stick or something... until she gets so angry at him, that she forgets about her anger at me, effectively ending her frustration with you, and Lily's corruption.'_

_James seemed to ponder this for a moment, before responding, 'Although that is kind of a brilliant plan, it would fail for two reasons. One; I don't think you realize how angry Stevie is. I haven't seen her this angry since... well since that incident when Sirius and I hung Snivellus up by his foot and...' _

_Remus gulped slightly at this and nodded his head, 'Okay... okay...'_

_'AND because our dearest friend, Padfoot, has been MIA since this morning. Given the fact that you haven't noticed that, I'm guessing whatever happen between you two has you pretty tangled up too.' _

_He sighed, 'You could say that...'_

And then there was that night. Four nights prior to this very afternoon has turned out to be possibly the worst night of his life. When Severus had came so close to being nothing more than scraps for him to devour... he still felt sick even thinking about it. Sick, and filthy, and ashamed.

When he saw Severus and Stevie talking the day afterwards... he didn't have to guess to know what it was about. His hand movements, and her expression. It was enough. When she seen him looking at her from across the courtyard, she said something to Severus and stood up, walking briskly to where he was standing. He turned to walk away, but she stopped him.

'_Don't you dare even consider it.' She may have hardly hit 5'2, and been as beautiful and delicate looking as a porcelain doll, but there was a certain tone in her voice when she got angry that could probably scare the hood of a dementor._

_He turned and looked her directly in the eye. She stopped several feet away from him, but he could still read the emotions in her eyes; fear, caution, anger, confusion, and denial. She didn't say anything to him. _

_He spoke up first. 'Ask me.'_

_She shook her head. 'I don't have too. I... I don't believe him.'_

_'Ask me.' He repeated again. 'I know you want to ask. So just do it.'_

_She tried to hide the fear in her eyes, he could tell. She tilted her chin up defiantly, 'The only thing I want to ask you is why you have been avoiding me for the last three days.' _

_'That's not it!' He practically shouted and she flinched back at his angry tone. He couldn't remember ever raising his voice at her, but he couldn't help it. Her blantant refusal to acknoledge what he knew Severus had just told her upset him worse than anything. He was okay with her being angry at him; he had just tried to kill her cousin. He was okay with her being scared of him; she should be. But _this_ denial, this refusal to even broach the subject really got to him._

_'Severus, don't!' She said, turning to look behind her. Remus now turned his attention to her greasy haired git of a cousin that was approaching them, his wand at the ready. _

_'He's a-'_

_'Enough Severus! I can handle it.' She practically growled, before grabbing the sleeve of Remus's robe and pulling him behind her as she exited the courtyard, ignoring the protests of her cousin. He followed her; partially because she had a really firm grip and partially because this was still Stevie, and when it came to her, he was still as helpless as always._

_'Do not yell at me.' Was the first thing she said when she finally stopped walking. They were in some kind of abandoned corridor. _

_'Do not blantantly ignore the elephant in the room.'_

_'I don't know what you're talking about.'_

_'Ask me if I'm a werewolf.' He said. Instead of a yell this time, it was a deadly whisper, and this time there was no mistaking the fear in her eyes. But there wasn't any surprise, so Severus had told her._

_'I don't want to.' She whispered after a moment. 'I don't want to know the answer.'_

_'Too bad.' He said, his voice still deadly calm. 'Because you need to hear it. You need to know that I am a werewolf, Stephanie. I'm a werewolf, and I almost murdered your cousin last night.'_

_'Remus, stop.' She said, her voice quiet and broken sounding. _

_'No. There is no stopping this! Not hearing, not _believing_ it, that doesn't make this go away. Trust me. It's here to stay. You have to know that. You have to know how dangerous I am. I could hurt you-'_

_'You wouldn't hurt me.'_

_'My werewolf side would! Just ask Severus. He saw me, Stephanie. He looked me dead in the eye, and he could probably see the bloodthirst there, the part of me that wanted to rip him to shreds-'_

_She slapped him then. Hard. His eyes actually stung and blurred. By the time they had cleared, she was gone. She was always good at disappearing._

And now here he was. She had been gone all the rest of Saturday, Sunday, and had missed classes yesterday and today. Even the teachers who were used to her skipping their classes were getting worried about her, not to mention Lily Evans was freaking out. Whether Severus had told her about his condition or not, he wasn't sure. He just knew the fiery-haired girl had marched up to him and told him that unless he wanted to wake up on the bottom on the lake with rocks strapped to his legs and the Giant Squid for company, he would find Stevie and fix this.

"I shouldn't have gotten so angry at you." He called out to the long row of shelves surrounding him. "I should have stopped and tried to have understood why you didn't want to acknoledge that I was a werewolf. It's terrifying. It's easier to just ignore that it's a part of me, than to actually face that it's a part of who I am. That's what I have to do 29 days of the month in order to stay sane... in order to attend Hogwarts, and to have James, Sirius and Peter as my friends, and..." He cleared his throat, "I had to ignore it when I kissed you. I couldn't let myself think about the fact that I'm a monster, or else I would never be able to stand looking at you, let alone how I feel about you."

He sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. This was sounding more pathetic by the second. "But then there's times... two or three days before the full moon, and the night of the full moon, that I'm forced to remember that that's really who I am. I have to force myself to come to terms with it... and I guess I wanted you to feel that. I wanted you to have to understand why I can't just ignore it all the time... because if I ignore it and slip up, I could hurt you."

"And I'm sorry for lying to you about it. The one thing you said you could count on me for was my honesty, and then you had to find out that I've lied to you more than anyone else at this school has... and some of the lies that James and Sirius had to tell you was to protect my lie. And that has to hurt you. And I am so sorry. But you said the reason we keep secrets is to keep that secret safe. Well you were wrong. I don't keep mine to keep it safe, or myself safe, or you safe... I keep it, because I'm ashamed of who I am and because I know that if people knew... well then, I wouldn't have a chance to get to know people like you."

It was still silent. The words were coming out of Remus's mouth quicker than he could have stopped them. It was a flood of things he had been dying to explain to someone for years... especially her.

"I didn't come here to convince you to still be my friend. If your smart, than you know it's for the best if you just stay away from me. But you have to stop hiding, Stevie. You can't just become an item on one of these shelves, because I swear, if I'm the person that put you here, I will never be able to live with myself. I promise I'll stay away from you."

Once again there was silence. He sighed, and turned away from the line of shelves to head back to the door. It had been a long shot anyway.  
He froze when he found her standing not only four feet away from him, leaning on the wall, her arms wrapped around her torso, her hair unkempt, and dark lines under her eyes.

They just looked at each for several seconds.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi." She responded.

"Did you hear-"

"Yeah." She said, sighing and rubbing eyes tiredly. "I heard."

"And?"

"And I can't believe how dense I've been." She said, rolling her eyes.

He frowned and felt his shoulders slump. "You weren't dense, Stevie... I've gotten pretty good at keeping my secret on the down-low."

"Tell me about it!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands out. "I actually had myself convinced that you liked someone else, or that you didn't find me attractive..."

"Wait." He said, cutting off her ramble, "What are you talking about?"

"This past year and a half, Dummy! Keep up!" She snapped, frowning at him. "I've been practically throwing myself at you since the end of third year, like some rip-off James Potter, with you as my Lily Evans! And I couldn't believe that you didn't have feelings for me! Everyone has feelings for me! I'm me!"

He was standing there, his mouth open, blinking at her.

"But you did like me! You just tried to deny it because of your condition, which I suppose I kind of get, but seriously, Remus, do you know how many blows you've dealt to my self esteem?"

Once again, it took him a few moments to realize that expected an answer.  
"Oh. Um- no. Sorry."

"You should be!" She said. She had been slowly coming closer and closer to him as she ranted, and once she was in arms reach, she slapped him in the arm. "And that's for calling me dumb!"

"I didn't call you dumb!" He protested, "You're the one who called me a dummy!"

If he didn't know any better, she was fighting a smile.  
"Oh really, because I distinctly remember you saying," She dropped her voice down several octaves in order to do a poor imitation of a male voice, "'If your smart, you'll know staying away from me is the best option'." When he didn't respond, she rolled her eyes, "I'll have you know, Remus John Lupin, that there is not even a small part of me that thinks staying away from you is in anyway the best option."

"But," he said, finally gaining a voice, "I'm a werewolf."

"And I'm the heir to the largest Pureblood family in all of Russia." She threw back in his face, "I'm rich, pureblood, and probably just as dangerous as a werewolf when I get angry. Except for the fact that your condition only lasts for one night a month, and mine lasts as long as my name does."

"I could have killed Severus..."

Her face darkened but she shook her head, and took his hands in hers. "No. The wolf inside you wanted to kill him. _You_ wouldn't hurt Severus. _Sirius_ was the real monster that night."

He blinked, and looked at her closely. There was something dark and deadly when she said Sirius's name. A type of hatred he had never heard come out of Stevie's voice. But it made his skin crawl. He had never thought of Stevie as potentially dangerous... threatening maybe, but dangerous no. But the look on her face now made him reconsider her words.

She sighed, "And that may be the biggest obstacle here." She turned her face up and looked him closely, "I think there's a very good chance that I may be in love with you, Remus." At those words, Remus's heart began pounding several beats faster, and his entire body flushed with a type of indescribable happiness.

"But," She continued, making his heart slow down a bit, "What Sirius did... what he could have done to Severus... I can't excuse that. I know Severus can be a git. I know he's always a had a rivalry with your friends, and as long as I haven't seen the effects of it, I've been able to ignore it. But this was too far. I don't care what Sirius's excuses were. Severus has been there for me since the beginning. He's my flesh and blood, and I'm attached to him in a way that you and James, and Sirius may never understand... but it's there. And the fact that I could have lost him because Sirius thought he would a prank... I will never be able to forgive Sirius for that. And I know he's your friend-"

"Stevie," He said, ending her explanation. "You don't have to explain that to me. Trust me, Sirius almost made me a murderer... I can't excuse that either. Your friendship wasn't the only one he lost after this incident..."

She looked at him, before wrapping her arms tight around his neck. "I'm sorry. I know how much he meant to you."

He held her for a moment, letting him find comfort in her embrace. She was right. Her and Sirius had been close friends... their similar backgrounds and family histories had given them something to bond over. But his and Sirius's friendship ran far deeper than that. And the thought of losing that made his heart break.  
But the girl with her arms wrapped around his neck managed to keep him together at least a little bit.

He gently pushed her away. "As much as I want this Stevie, I can't be with you."

She looked at him, but with none of the expected emotions; no anger, hurt, or worry... just a determined, nonchalant humor. "And why not?"

"Because I'm still me, and you're still you."

"You'll have to go into a better explanation than that, Remus... remember, I'm stupid?"

"I'm poor, Stevie. And I'll always be poor. There isn't no good openings for werewolves, trust me."

"So? I've grown up with rich people. They're nasty and greedy, and their money is all they care about in the end."

"But your parents-"

"Were already upset at me for not going with their plans."

"But look at me," He said gesturing at his arms and face, "I'm not even hardly sixteen and I've already got streaks of grey and my hair and scars all over my arms..."

"Honestly, Remus, for ever scar you have on the outside, I've gotten one on the inside."

He opened his mouth and she pecked him on the lips. "Aren't you noticing, Remus, that every flaw you have, I have the opposite one. You're too poor, I'm too rich. You're scarred physically, I'm scarred emotionally. You're too shy, I'm too bold. You blame yourself for everything, I put the blame on everyone else... We _fit_ together Remus. Why are you pushing me away?"

"Because I don't know why this had to happen to me... or why I have to bear this curse-"

"I do though, Remus!" She interupted him. "You have no reason to be ashamed of your lycanthropy. Yes, one night a month you turn into a muderous monster..." He winced at her description, but at the feel of her hand on his cheek, he opened his eyes ago, "But every other night and day, Remus, you are _perfect_. At least in my eyes you are. If you can handle all of my imperfections everyday, than I swear I can handle your _one_ fault, once a month, no matter how dangerous it can be."

He stared at her for a long time. Just looked at her. He took in her shoulder-length black hair, bright lavender eyes, porcelain skin, and her pale lips, before shaking his head, and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I love you." He said simply.

She smiled at him. "That's good."

"I'm never going to be able to deserve you."

She just smirked at him, "I was just thinking the same thing about you."


End file.
